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In the preceding article we featured bird watching binoculars and scopes as great gifts for bird watchers. We are now going to look at what other items would be perfect for a bird watcher. There are many things a bird watcher uses while hiking and watching birds.

Consider giving the bird watcher a waterproof field jacket or pocket vest. Field jackets and vests comes with many pockets that birders need for carrying items on their adventures. They can fill them with bird watching binoculars, large field guides, pen and notebook, phone, snacks, water bottles and who knows what else. The coat and vest features padded shoulders which helps when carrying their scope and tripod. The fabric in the jacket and vest should be of a breathable material.

Or how about giving them a field hat for a gift? This type of hat protects the bird watcher from the sun and glare while in the field and should be lightweight. Look for one that has a mesh crown for ventilation and can easily be folded and packed flat when traveling.

A binocular harness is literally a comforting present. The harness takes the pressure and weight of carrying binoculars from around the neck and distributes it evenly through the shoulders and back. A binocular harness makes hiking and bird watching much more enjoyable.

A backpack is another present that can be considered for your birder. Many bird watchers camp out for days while on bird watching trips. They take food, water and many other valuable items with them when camping out and a backpack or field bag would be a great gift. The bags have specific compartments for binoculars, field guides and other needed items.

Field Guide To The Birds of North America

Finally, bird watching books and journals are super bird watching gifts. Look for books that help with easy identification of birds. Journals are valuable to birders to keep track of the birds they spot. They even have software that can be purchased and installed on a phone instead of carrying books.

These are great gifts that any bird watcher would just love and appreciate. So check out the gifts that can be purchased for bird watching. They are going to be the best looking and best prepared birder out there!

A good pair of binoculars is one of the most important tools for bird watching. Binoculars allows close up views of birds in their natural habitat. The right binoculars makes it easy to see birds nesting, feeding and flying in the distance.

The first thing to look for in a new pair of binoculars is a good quality lens. Find a binocular that shows no signs of image distortion or color changes when viewing objects. A change in color through the binoculars would make identifying birds a much more difficult process.

The next feature to consider is the magnification and the size of the lens. Many bird watchers prefer the 7×35, 7×42 or 8×42 binocular; the lens allows sufficient light into the optics and are lightweight while hiking and bird watching. The 7x means that you are seeing your object 7 times closer than with the naked eye. An 8x or 10x magnification brings images closer, but the drawback to the 8x or 10x is that they are a heavier binocular to be lugging around to watch birds. The 35, 40, 42, 50 numbers that follows the magnification is the diameter of the lens in millimeters. The larger the diameter of the lens the sharper and brighter the object. Don’t forget the weight that comes along with the larger lens, too.

The binoculars’ exit pupil is a guide to the image brightness. For watching birds in the day a 3 or 5 exit pupil is fine. An exit pupil around 7 is used in low light situations like for astronomy. To figure out the exit pupil just divide the magnification into the diameter of the lens (ie. 7×35 would be a 5 exit pupil).

One more thing to consider when finding the right binoculars for bird watching, though not the last thing to consider, is the ease of the central focus mechanism. Look for a pair of binoculars that has the center focus wheel and make sure that the wheel turns easily and smoothly.

These are some of the main factors to keep in mind when you are out looking for the right binoculars for bird watching. The right binoculars will make your adventure so much more fun.

Nikon Monarch 5 Binoculars

Your Bird Feeder recommends the Nikon 7294 Monarch III 8×42 Binocular. The Monarch 7294 features a sharper and brighter image. The low-light performance of the Nikon Monarch has been drastically improved. The weight of these binoculars and the focusing mechanism are excellent for bird watching. Take a look at the Nikon Monarch ATB Binoculars here.

UPDATE: Nikon has changed the name of the Nikon Monarch ATB III to Nikon Monarch 5